April 8, 2010 | Read Time: 1 minute
Aline Reed, a London marketing expert, has some advice for fund raisers: Make sure you read all of the correspondence that your organization sends to donors.
Many charities have separate administrative, fulfillment, or other departments that prepare and send materials to donors, notes Ms. Reed in a posting on the blog her company, Bluefrog, maintains. But that siloed approach can cause problems.
Ms. Reed describes a confusing letter that she received from a charity that referred to her monthly contribution, which is automatically deducted from her checking account, as “a claim.”
“It took me a few moments to realise that they were referring to the money I donate,” she writes. Such unclear communications, she continues, “can damage the relationship you’ve worked so hard to form with your supporter … it could even lead to someone being so thoroughly confused that they call you—meaning you spend twice as long dealing with a simple transaction.”
In addition to getting rid of confusing language, Ms. Reed recommends that fund raisers review the information that donors get with an eye toward making other improvements.
Among them: Making sure to always include a thank-you message and providing a contact person with a relevant job title, telephone number, and e-mail address in case the donor wishes to get in touch with the charity.
